Grocery Frenzy

So once I started to lose some weight, I knew I was going to have to cook. That's just how it works. I'm sorry. I had to keep food in my house so that I wouldn't go to Sonic at 10:00 PM every night of the week. I loved to do that when I was a chunky monkey...go to Sonic, get a number 1 cheeseburger meal w/mayo, tots w/cheese (of course) and a large cherry coke. If it was a special occasion, I would add an M&M Sonic Blast or make a special trip to Dairy Queen and get a blizzard for later. I would take my food home, put my glorious ice cream in the freezer, get settled in my bed w/ my food and continue watching my DVD collections of Friends until I fell asleep. Ahhh, the fat life. Hold on a second, let me shuffle on over to the Sonic website so I can calculate the calories of that meal...800 for the cheeseburger w/mayo, 450 for the tots w/cheese, and oh my dear sweet Lord...910 for the blast. Oh, and 205 for the coke. That, ladies and gents, is a grand total of 2,365 calories. Yikes. That is just shameful.

Sooo, I committed to going to the grocery store and buy food that I could cook instead of going out. Well, son of a bitch that didn't work because I just flat out marched right in to HEB and bought whatever the hell I wanted. Oh, I'm hungry? Hmm, let's see what's in the ole fridge/pantry...all of the ingredients to make some fried chicken? Sure, why not! I'm not eating out, right? WRONG! Finally, I got smart and made a system for myself that, yes, I'm sure others do as well, but I still use it for my husband and myself for planning out our weekly meals. Now, please know that this current food list/meal planning does not reflect the most healthy of meals. But, since I am so close to maintenance-mode and I have continued and will continue to exercise so that I have a little more flexibility with my meals. I hope that statement alone was some motivation for someone...it is so amazing to know that a "bad" meal isn't the end of the world, or even a dent in your progress because you stay active. Anyway, I used this exact same procedure when everything I ate was limited to chicken and vegetables so it can work for anyone.

First, I start out with looking at what I've got. These are the "major" food items that I could base meals off of when planning:

From there, I think of meals that I can make this week using these ingredients to save some $$. With the above list, I came up with the following:

Now, chill out. I know what you are thinking...burgers and fries?...quesadillas?...just green beans and mashed potatoes on Thursday? Well, just to clarify: I eat my burger without the bun and the fries are the Ore-Ida extra crispy crinkles that you BAKE and are 160 calories a serving...thank you very much. I use chicken breast mixed w/cheese to fill quesadillas with, but the thing is, I only use 1 tortilla and fold it over so it's like a soft taco, just put on the stove to make it crispy. And finally, in my last defense, I knew I just needed an entree for our Thursday meal but wanted to wait and see what HEB had to offer. I decided to go with some seasoned chicken breast to bake with the green beans and taters.

So then, based on my meal list and whatever odds and ends we need (coffee, q-tips, gatorade, fruit, etc.) I make my grocery list:

And there you have it! If I do this, I only buy what's on this list. If something comes up during the week and I need it from HEB, I go get it and leave. If you can't trust yourself in the ice cream aisle, don't put that shit on your list. I did get some Nesquik and it wasn't on my list, but I realized I didn't have anything sweet in the house and I have to at least have some chocolate milk after dinner or a piece of dark chocolate. Find a positive food intervention system, stick with it and you will have success. 

Well, my back has been hurting like a mother lately and my husband just actually asked me if I wanted a back rub, so off I go! 

Here are some weekend pics real quick. On Saturday, my hubby and I walked a 5K for one of my favorite charity's, Hope for Three. It benefits families with children who have Autism. He recently got over a terrible round of bronchitis so I thought we should just walk together instead of hurt his lungs.

And Saturday we went to see my brother's football game in Lake Charles, Louisiana...

And Sunday we rested...all of us.

As always, thanks so much for reading!